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I've been supporting City since mid-80's but I'm not going to go that far. What does your track record with managerial predictions go in this site since you've been around and how did you feel about each of them?

I joined the site in the end of Royle era so I'm going to include him.

Royle - we were in deep mess when we appointed him and he looked like a REALLY GOOD appointment at the time. Loved him to the end (although football was bit rubbish but you can't be picky) and felt that he should've had the chance to continue. CORRECT

Keegan - LOVED this appointment. Quality football for most of the time and we did really well with him considering the circumstances. It was time for him to go when he left as it was slowly starting to turn bit sour (especially as he had said he'd be quitting in a year anyway). MOSTLY CORRECT

Pearce - LOVED this appointment. I so desperately wanted this guy to be succesfull but the football was some of the worst I've ever witnessed in any level and this guy was absolutely clueless with tactics. EPIC FAIL

Erickson - LOVED this appointment. Football was mostly good and I felt we did pretty well/alright. In the end it was starting to go pretty sour mainly because of the circumstances but he brought right sort of flair to club. I can understand people who didn't like him too and some of his buys were suspect. NOT RIGHT OR WRONG

Hughes - Fucking HATED this appointment from the day his name was mentioned as possible target. After his appointment came Sheik and "the project". He was never their man and was appointed originally to do different sort of job ie thread water. He wasn't suitable candidate for that sort of building project as he had made his name ín doing ok with limited resources. There were ups and downs. Some really good performances but overall I don't think he ever quite grasped what was expected of him. Some good buys though. NOT RIGHT OR WRONG

Mancini - LOVED this appointment. Did exactly what was expected of him from day one. Shored up the defense immediately and then brought FA Cup and later League Title. Had a season of clear step back and it was slowly starting to turn sour. Still his record speaks for itself. MOSTLY CORRECT

Pellegrini - Overall pretty indifferent if slightly negative feeling.

I'm way too old to even consider reviewing ALL of the managers I have seen since the early 70s !!! The 80s alone would take me about four days

Blue Oli wrote:I'm way too old to even consider reviewing ALL of the managers I have seen since the early 70s !!! The 80s alone would take me about four days

That's what I'm saying mate. No need to do all managers. Hell, thinking about most of our managers in 90's alone makes my head hurt.

Tbh I've been happy enough with the initial choice of all the managers since Royle, just not the timing of their appointments.

I think all did a good job at some point too but some descended into chaos.

Happy enough with Pellegrini now, if it is him, but no idea if it will be better or worse & the timing it came out was, as usual, fucking dreadful.

Ted Hughes wrote:Tbh I've been happy enough with the initial choice of all the managers since Royle, just not the timing of their appointments.

I think all did a good job at some point too but some descended into chaos.

Happy enough with Pellegrini now, if it is him, but no idea if it will be better or worse & the timing it came out was, as usual, fucking dreadful.

I don't know about Pearce though. As much as I hated Hughes, even he had some redeeming qualities and few decent performances. Pearce on the other hand, I swear that last season of his was the worst watching City EVER. And just like most people here I've been through Ball's and Clark's and rest of them bastards. Such a major let down especially as I thought (and still think) that he is one of the best people in football. He just didn't understand football tactics AT ALL.

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Tbh I've been happy enough with the initial choice of all the managers since Royle, just not the timing of their appointments.

I think all did a good job at some point too but some descended into chaos.

Happy enough with Pellegrini now, if it is him, but no idea if it will be better or worse & the timing it came out was, as usual, fucking dreadful.

I don't know about Pearce though. As much as I hated Hughes, even he had some redeeming qualities and few decent performances. Pearce on the other hand, I swear that last season of his was the worst watching City EVER. And just like most people here I've been through Ball's and Clark's and rest of them bastards. Such a major let down especially as I thought (and still think) that he is one of the best people in football. He just didn't understand football tactics AT ALL.

I agree on the last season of Pearce being right up there with dogshit from Hell, but the run we had under him when he 1st took over, when that cunt Fowler should have put us in Europe, was a bit like a low level version of the end of last season.

The biggest disappointment for me in years past was Frank Clark.

I wasn't that impressed with him at Forest but I'd spoken to a lot of football people who told me great things about him & particularly his assistant Alan Hill & media backed it up, so I was sold on it.

I used to go & watch some of his training sessions sometimes. Ony problem was; half the time he fucking didn't.

Good thread.....

I started following City at their lowest point in 1998.

Royle - RIGHT! He built a team which managed two consecutive promotions back to the premier league. I remember spending £500 on a signed england shirt at a P&W meeting as I was convinced he was gonna lead us to great things. It all went a bit wrong though, as I half suspected it would, when he was given quite a lot of money to spend. I always worried that managers who have thrived on a shoestring as he had at oldham, struggle when given money to spend. He proved this with City unfortunately. I was sad to see him go, but he had taken us as far as he could.

Keegan - RIGHT! had a fairly easy time with the squad he inherited, and with a couple of inspired additions like Eyal and Ali, gave me the best year I think I will ever have as a football fan. He even did ok in the premier league, but he has always been a money manager - when that money ran out, he ran out of ideas. I called that one right too, funnily enough for the opposite reasons to Joe

Pearce - I liked the idea of the appointment, but really couldn't decide one way or another which way it would pan out.

Ericsson - WRONG! Was devastated we didn't get Ranieri at the time, and I really didn't fancy the idea of Sven. He won me over, and I think with continued backing, could easily still have been our manager today.

Hughes - RIGHT! I didn't have an issue with him being a rag, and was happy to cut him slack. I think it only took me around a month until the Liverpool/Gelson Fernandes/Right Back thing before I knew for certain he was a cretin. However I was disappointed he was sacked when he was in the end, as he deserved to see that season out

Mancini - RIGHT(ish)! I knew nothing at all about him or his style of play. I think it was either his first or second game in charge, was the most mind numbingly boring game I've ever watched upto that point and I was very worried when I then read up about him. Then came games like beating Birmingham 4.0 at home where I honestly wanted to go home at half time it was that bad. But his point of no return was the performance at the Emirates in 20010. It's been done to death on here, but that showed me that the man was not going to change his percentages football even when 4th place was wide open for the taking. He won the FA Cup then started the season incredibly, and I thought I might have got it wrong, but it was the storm before the calm and I honestly would have replaced him last summer when it became clear the players were ignoring his instructions.

Pellegrini - It's all there for him to succeed. I really don't know enough about him, but I reckon 5-6 games in, we will know what he's all about and I#ve been pretty much spot on calling it from that point with every manager we've had.

I actually thought Sven was a smoke and mirrors charlatan, who was underneath totally useless - as we found out in the second half of his season and every subsequent appointment.

However his appointment gave us an initial boost when he still had a big reputation.

Ok I'm going to categorise them from a personal view - not based on results:

Shit but loveable -Pierce, Sven, Keegan

Shit - Hughes

Shitter - Horton, clarke

Fucklin impossible to believe - Coppel

Good - Royle, Book, Mancini

Great - TBD

Brian Horton- Legend, great football and top man.

biggest cunt to have ever managed us was that fucking cunt howard kendall

never been as pleased when the cunt failed on his return to goodison

Nigels Tackle wrote:biggest cunt to have ever managed us was that fucking cunt howard kendall

never been as pleased when the cunt failed on his return to goodison

really!

what about Alan Ball

Alan ball - Christ that was so bad I seem to have blanked my memories of his squeky twatishness

i started following us at the tail end of Keegan in 2004. Ambivalent towards Keegan because i was just getting to know the club, their history and how english football works.

i was SUPER EXCITED about Pearce because i thought he was so plain-spoken and humble and great with players. Freakily wrong.

Hated Sven getting the sack. Hated Hughes getting the sack, tho at the tail end i KNEW he needed to get fucked off and leave. Relieved that Mancini got the sack, tho it is really, really bittersweet.

I haven't really disliked any City manager during my short time supporting god's own...#muppet

I'm going to use the Royle starting point, too, although I think Horton was manager when I started supporting. I'm factoring in 3 things: long-term stability, transfers and on-field performance in the scores I'm giving them.

Royle - Still my favourite overall manager from a business:performance point of view. Knew exactly what we needed, and how to get it. I really think that he could have kept us up, had he not been given such a generous kitty. Was surprised when he was fired, but he'd started to establish a squad I feel he may have been the wrong man to manage. At the time 8/10, with hindsight 8.5/10

Keegan - Brought about some of our most enjoyable performances, but at the same time odd signings led to financial problems. I have a feeling he knows the game on an international scale far less than his reputation would suggest, and when the funds run low, this shows. At the time 8.5/10, with hindsight 6.5/10

Pearce - Was happy when we got him, and was young and optimistic enough to continue watching boring football. Pearce was a man who would take short-term tactical chances, but was too defence-minded to give us long-term development or survival. At the time 7/10, with hindsight 4/10

Ericsson - Surprised (but neither angry nor elated) when we got him. Insightful signings, but a few simply didn't go his way (Bojinov with injuries, and Elano with fluctuating form), and a few didn't get the chance they deserved (Caicedo). I think he was on thin ice before being found out as being out-of-touch with the game and being moved into an ambassadorial/director role, and as things transpired, I was proven to be right. A few unforeseen slip-ups and odd results made me feel he maybe wasn't the man for the long-term, but I thought he should have had more time. With hindsight, had Frank's cash continued to flow for a couple more months, I think we would have been in a very, very different situation now. At the time 6/10, with hindsight 5/10

Hughes - Very happy with his appointment, considering our dawning financial difficulties. Seemed like a manager to get the best out of a squad, was good with a small budget, and seemed popular with players. My main criticism over his time with us was crony-ism, and the fact that he became obsessed with certain players; something that cost us many, many millions in under-par players and inflated transfer fees once the money rolled in. I enjoyed the football, still felt we were punching above our weight, and believe that he would have delivered in the long-term, were he to make concessions with regard to the club's policies and selection of backroom staff (which I doubt he would have done). At the time 8.5/10, with hindsight 7.5/10

Mancini - I was disappointed by his appointment, and pretty much everything about him and his way of playing (early April aside) in his first season: Adam Johnson was obviously not his signing, the performances were dire, and I believe his nonchalance towards the League Cup was the reason we ended the season trophyless - all of this for a fifth place finish, which I was certain that Hughes would have at least equalled, with the bonuses of silverware and more exciting football. I saw this half-season in the way that older Blues saw Pearce's tenure. I didn't warm to him in the slightest until the 4-1 win over Fulham the next season. Off-field, I saw him as petulant and living in a fantasy world, where transfers would go exactly the way he wanted them, simply because we had the resources to do so. He knew one decent tactic: play the 11 most valuable players, which often saw him caught out by teams with grit, determination, and a manager whose sole knowledge of us didn't come from a sticker album and the highlights on Match of the Day. Don't get me wrong, I am glad for the two trophies he won us, but the heartless challenges we put forward this season, and the 'Mancini Knows Best (TM)' attitude he had toward European competition detract from these even further in my perception of him as a manager significantly. At the time 4/10, hindsight TBD

Pellegrini - Looking forward to his appointment, and hope he can cooperate with our non-footballing staff, who seem to be grasping ever more power away from the manager. From the little I know of him, he can inspire a side, and has a good footballing brain; both things that Mancini lacked in my opinion, and hopefully these will lead to more flexibility when facing mid-low table teams who see us as a realistic scalp to get. Anticipation 7.5/10

I gave my feelings about managers, rather than how right I was with predictions, as I don't claim to be any form of oracle or font of footballing knowledge.

cartesr wrote:

Nigels Tackle wrote:biggest cunt to have ever managed us was that fucking cunt howard kendall

never been as pleased when the cunt failed on his return to goodison

really!

what about Alan Ball

"city was only an affair"

what a cunt

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:I've been supporting City since mid-80's but I'm not going to go that far. What does your track record with managerial predictions go in this site since you've been around and how did you feel about each of them?

I joined the site in the end of Royle era so I'm going to include him.

Royle - we were in deep mess when we appointed him and he looked like a REALLY GOOD appointment at the time. Loved him to the end (although football was bit rubbish but you can't be picky) and felt that he should've had the chance to continue. CORRECT

Keegan - LOVED this appointment. Quality football for most of the time and we did really well with him considering the circumstances. It was time for him to go when he left as it was slowly starting to turn bit sour (especially as he had said he'd be quitting in a year anyway). MOSTLY CORRECT

Pearce - LOVED this appointment. I so desperately wanted this guy to be succesfull but the football was some of the worst I've ever witnessed in any level and this guy was absolutely clueless with tactics. EPIC FAIL

Erickson - LOVED this appointment. Football was mostly good and I felt we did pretty well/alright. In the end it was starting to go pretty sour mainly because of the circumstances but he brought right sort of flair to club. I can understand people who didn't like him too and some of his buys were suspect. NOT RIGHT OR WRONG

Hughes - Fucking HATED this appointment from the day his name was mentioned as possible target. After his appointment came Sheik and "the project". [highlight]He was never their man and was appointed originally to do different sort of job ie thread water.[/highlight] He wasn't suitable candidate for that sort of building project as he had made his name ín doing ok with limited resources. There were ups and downs. Some really good performances but overall I don't think he ever quite grasped what was expected of him. Some good buys though. NOT RIGHT OR WRONG

Mancini - LOVED this appointment. Did exactly what was expected of him from day one. Shored up the defense immediately and then brought FA Cup and later League Title. Had a season of clear step back and it was slowly starting to turn sour. Still his record speaks for itself. MOSTLY CORRECT

Pellegrini - Overall pretty indifferent if slightly negative feeling.

Being an ex rag and with a mandate like that he truly was fucked in your eyes ;-)

BlueinBosnia wrote:Hughes - At the time 8.5/10, with hindsight 7.5/10

Mancini - At the time 4/10, hindsight TBD

You must be Welsh.

I'm a wierdo who will support every manager until the next one comes in. It's just the way I roll.

What the hell are you guys basing your right/wrong and 6.5's out of 10 on?